Sample carrier for pneumatic tube system



Aug. H6, F {:URDY L SAMPLE CARRIER FOR PNEUMATIC TUBE SYSTEM Filed April 15, 1964 I N VENTORS. FRANCIS W. PURDY Jfl ATTOWWEYS United States Patent 3,266,751 SAMPLE CARRIER FOR PNEUMATIC TUBE SYSTEM Francis W. Purdy, Maple Heights, and Arthur L. Pescosolido, Northfield, Ohio, assignors to The Standard Oil Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed Apr. 15, 1964, Ser. No. 359,880 3 Claims. (Cl. 24335) The present improvements relate to carriers for pneumatic tube system use and, more particularly, to a construction for a carrier for the transport of specimens or samples and the like in relatively large systems.

As a further particularized example, the carrier of the invention has been provided to convey bottled samples of oil refinery products from the sites of the operations being surveyed by sampling to a remotely located laboratory. In this installation, the samples to be useful as a practical matter are rather large, and the system must similarly be physically of increased size and strength as compared, for example, to message sending pneumatic tube facilities and the like. The refinery application may thus employ a pneumatic tube which is four or six inches in diameter, with the carriers being capable of transporting sample bottles and jars varying in size from four ounces to as high as one quart.

Carriers which have heretofore been provided for pneumatic systems on the order above indicated are made from molded parts and are quite expensive, with the unit cost becoming an increasing factor by reason of the growing use and still unrealized potential of the relatively large size installation. Each carrier must of course comprise a cover or the equivalent for opening the assembly to receive the sample bottle or jar and the conventional closures are not considered particularly easy of manipulation or exhibiting high resistance to wear through repeated handling. These covers are, moreover, not of economical formation, particularly in respect of their attachment to the carrier body.

It is, therefore, a principal object of the present invention to provide a pneumatic tube carrier construction which is especially well suited for use in the relatively large systems discussed in the foregoing, with a very substantial savings in the unit cost made possible by this construction.

Another object is to provide a heavy duty sample carrier for use in a relatively large pneumatic tube system having a closure assembly which is economical, extremely easy to manipulate, and reliable over long periods of use.

An additional object is to provide such a sample carrier assembled from multiple components of such formation as to eliminate any need for the use of molded pieces in the construction.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends the invention, then, comprises the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims, the following description and the annexed drawing setting forth in detail a certain illustrative embodiment of the invention, this being indicative, however, of but one of the various ways in which the principle of the invention may be employed.

In said annexed drawing:

FIGv 1 is a view partly in side elevation and partly in longitudinal section, as shown by reference to the line 11 of FIG. 2, of a sample carrier in accordance with the present improvements;

FIG. 2 is an elevation of the left end of the carrier as it appears in FIG. 1, this view also being indicated by the line 22 in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a cover-retaining element used in the assembly.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, the new carthe end bands 11 and 12 not machined and hence of the body profile illustrated.

At one end, at which the band 11 occurs, the body 10 is closed by a cap 13 having a peripheral flange 14 projecting inwardly and engaged about the thickened body end band 11. The cap 13 has an outer groove 15 machined therein, with this cap also preferably being made from a standard commercially available slip-on polyvinyl chloride pipe cap.

A split gasket ring 16, again made from a section of the polyvinyl chloride pipe is disposed about the end cap 13 by seating in the groove 15 thereof. Such gasket ring is shaped to have a narrow groove 17 about its outer periphery, with the sharp corners ordinarily occurring both at the groove and end faces being rounded, and a suitable annular gasket 18 is stretched over this receptor ring and then relaxed for seating in the groove 17.

This end closure for the body 10 is permanent, with the end cap 13 being suitably plastic welded or cemented over the end of the body 10. The gasket mounting ring 16 is split for placement about the cap and it too may be permanently fixed in the illustrated mounted position. The gasket 18 of course provides sealing of this end of the carrier when the assembly is completed and the carrier inserted in the pneumatic tube in which it is to be transported.

At the other end of the carrier body 10, a sleeve 19 of relatively short axial extent is partially disposed about the end band 12 of the body and adhered to the same. This sleeve 19 has an external groove 20 about its inner portion or that portion encircling the body end band 12, and a further split gasket r ng 21 of the same formation as the previously described ring 16 is disposed in the same manner as the latter within the groove 20. The gasket ring 21 receives a relatively thin annular gasket like the gasket 18 and serves the purpose of providing a peripheral seal for this end of the carrier within the pneumatic tube.

The sleeve 19 has, however, an outward extension beyond the body end 12 and outwardly of the latter it is formed within an internal groove 23. The sleeve 19 is also preferably made by machining to the form shown a section of a standard commercially available polyvinyl chloride pipe cap.

As illustrated, the inside diameter of the sleeve 19 immediately adjacent the actual end of the body 10 has the same outside diameter as the latter, and there is a small axial extension of this inner surface of the sleeve between the groove 23 and such body end. A removable closure is provided for this end in the form of a metal disc 24, preferably of aluminum, having a diameter approximately coincident with the outside diameter of the end of the body 10 and a thickness approximately equal to the noted axial extension provided by the inner surface of the sleeve 19 just adjacent this end of the body. The closure or cover has a wood knob 25 attached at the center thereof to project at the outside for manipulating the component. The cover will be seen to fit against the end face of the body 10 at this band 12 inside the groove 23. When thus applied, by simply placing the same against the end of the body, the closure 24 is held in place by means of an incomplete locking ring 26 of generally rectangular cross-section and partially seated in the groove 23 of the end sleeve extension 19. This holding or locking ring 26 is of such radial extent as to project inwardly of the groove 23 when fully inserted therein and hence to overlie the edge of the disc closure 24. The closure 24 is therefore held against the end of the carrier body, with the holding ring 26 being resilient for distortion tending to contract the same for insertion within the end of the sleeve 19 and snapping out into the groove 23 when released. To facilitate this insertion, and also removal of the holding ring 26, a wire fingerpiece 27 is provided at one end.

This snap holding ring can also be made from standard polyvinyl chloride pipe, 'with the indicated gap being cut therein and the fingerpiece 27 pressed into the end at which it occurs and from which it extends more or less radially inwardly with a looped end for easy grasping by hand.

As also shown, there is a body 28 of cellulosic or other sponge material secured as a pad to the inner face of the permanent end closure 13, and a similar pad 29 is carried at the inside of the removal closure plate 24. These pads are of course intended to serve as shock absorbers and additional pieces of the same or equivalent material can also be employed loosely for added cushioning or where the container for the sample to be placed in the carrier is not of sufiicient size to engage both of the pads 28 and 29 in the drawing. As has been suggested in the foregoing description, and as will in fact be apparent from consideration of the illustration, the sample carrier of this invention is an assembly of a plurality of parts which can be, and in actual practice have been, obtained from standard plastic pipe supplies. There is, accordingly, a very substantial savings realized, since no molds are needed, and a molded carrier of approximately the same size as one of the illustrated construction has a price of more than twice the cost of the latter construction. As a more specific example, and to afford some better understanding of the sizes involved, carriers as disclosed herein have been produced with lengths slightly in excess of ten inches and a main body outside diameter slightly under four and one-half inches. Such a carrier is well suited to receive a quart glass bottle as shown by the dashed outline 30 in FIG. 1, with this bottle filled with the particular liquid sample to be transported from the extraction point to the remote test point. While specific mention has been made of polyvinyl chloride pipe and standard related components as the source of the material for the disclosed parts of the new carrier, other plastics can of course be utilized, while still retaining the primary desired fabrication of parts as distinguished from special molds and the like.

In use, the carrier is loaded with the sample containing bottle, jar or other container, and placed in the carrier, the latter being opened and closed by ready removal and reapplication of the holding split ring and metal disc or cover. The carrier is preferably inserted in the pneumatic tube, wherein it is sealed by the end gaskets, with its permanently closed end leading or toward the vacuum creating pump with which the system is operated, so that the greater pressure whereby the propulsion is effected acts against the removable cover in the closing direction. 7

Other modes of applying the principle of the invention may be employed, change being made as regards the details described, provided the features stated in any of the following claims or the equivalent of such be employed.

We therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as our invention:

1. A sample carrier for use in a pneumatic tube system, comprising a tubular body, a separately formed end piece afiixed permanently to one end of said body, a sleeve extension at the other end of said body, a removable closure member disposed against said other end of said tubular body 'within said sleeve extension, the inner surface of the latter being formed with a continuous groove, a resilient split ring partially seated in said groove and partially overlying said removable closure member, thereby to retain the latter in carrier closing condition, with said split ring having free ends at least one of which is provided with a hand piece to be grasped for manipulating the ring to insert and remove the same, and peripheral sealing means about the respective end portions of the body for sealing of the carrier movably in the pneumatic tube in which it is employed.

2. A sample carrier as set forth in claim 1, wherein the peripheral sealing means at each end of the body comprises a split mounting ring and a gasket seated in a groove provided therefor in said mounting ring.

3. A sample carrier as set forth in claim 2, wherein the tubular body is a length of rigid plastic pipe, and said end piece and sleeve extension are formed of the same material.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 359,456 3/1887 McLaughlin 24334 460,081 9/1891 Collins 243--35 842,419 1/1907 Palmer 243-35 2,014,571 9/1935 Jennings 24332 2,725,252 11/1955 Greer 292256.65 2,736,513 2/1956 Amann 24339 2,743,034 4/ 1956 Wheatley 22046 FOREIGN PATENTS 580,475 9/ 1946 Great Britain.

EVON C. BLUNK, Primary Examiner.

SAMUEL F. COLEMAN, Examiner.

H. HORNSBY, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A SAMPLE CARRIER FOR USE IN A PNEUMATIC TUBE SYSTEM, COMPRISING A TUBULAR BODY, A SEPARATELY FORMED END PIECE AFFIXED PERMANENTLY TO ONE END OF SAID BODY, A SLEEVE EXTENSION AT THE OTHER END OF SAID BODY, A REMOVABLE CLOSURE MEMBER DISPOSED AGAINST SAID OTHER END OF SAID TUBULAR BODY WITHIN SAID SLEEVE EXTENSION, THE INNER SURFACE OF THE LATTER BEING FORMED WITH A CONTINUOUS GROOVE, A RESILIENT SPLIT RING PARTIALLY SEATED IN SAID GROOVE AND PARTIALLY OVERLYING SAID REMOVABLE CLOSURE MEMBER, THEREBY TO RETAIN THE LATTER IN CARRIER CLOSING CONDITION, WITH SAID SPLIT RING HAVING FREE ENDS AT LEAST ONE OF WHICH IS PROVIDED WITH A HAND PIECE TO BE GRASPED FOR MANIPULATING THE RING TO INSERT AND REMOVE THE SAME, AND PERIPHERAL SEALING MEANS ABOUT THE RESPECTIVE END PORTIONS OF THE BODY FOR SEALING OF THE CARRIER MOVABLY IN THE PNEUMATIC TUBE IN WHICH IT IS EMPLOYED. 